


Little Lights

by Imionn (The_River_Blaire)



Series: Firefly Stories [1]
Category: Firefly
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-26
Updated: 2013-06-26
Packaged: 2017-12-16 05:35:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/858441
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_River_Blaire/pseuds/Imionn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>(Before series)<br/>River looked up at the sky. Something blinked above her, at first she thought she was imagining it, but then she saw another blink, and another, and another, dozens of little yellow lights flashed around her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Little Lights

He watched as his sister spun through the backyard. The evening light glittering in the cascade of brown hair that spun with her. The soft green grass bent back beneath her feet. The purples and oranges of the sky echoed those in his sister’s soft dress. He watched fondly as she leaped and twirled in the backyard of the Tam’s estate. Behind him sat the large mansion they called home, the dark, melancholy reds and browns that coloured the house seemed out of place next to the shining, spinning, joyful girl.

“Come on, Simon.” The girl smiled, skipping over to the edge of the porch where he sat.

“River, you know I don’t dance.”

“Please.” River begged, pushing out her bottom lip into a pout and making her eyes as wide as they would go.

Simon looked at his little sister’s pleading face and smiled. “Oh, all right.”

River jumped in glee and sprang back to the middle of the yard. Simon followed a little more slowly, so River raced back and grabbed his arm, practically dragging him across the yard. River stopped and looked up at Simon, she smiled the warmest, kindest smile. Simon just grabbed her by the waist and spun her. River giggled as the world blended together, her giggle couldn’t help but cause Simon to laugh. He dropped her and they both fell to the ground laughing. River looked up at the sky. Something blinked above her, at first she thought she was imagining it, but then she saw another blink, and another, and another, dozens of little yellow lights flashed around her. She smiled over at her brother.

“Fireflies.” She whispered, her face getting all serious before she jumped up. She glanced around the backyard, watching the fireflies dance around her. She just stood there a moment before she was off. She pinpointed one of them, watching as it flew; calculating, in the matter of moments: how fast it was going, how many times it blinked and how often. She was suddenly after it, like a cat after it’s prey. She seemed to float over the ground as she ran. She put her arms up to where it was, she was only barely aware that Simon had left to the house. ‘To get a jar.’ She jumped but the firefly had flitted just out of her reach. She watched it, pouting. Then she started over, finding another one, calculating, and running after it, this time accounting for confounding variables, she jumped, her hands closed around it. River made a small hole between her thumbs and peeked in, watching as it glowed faintly, and blinked. Then she felt someone behind her, she whipped around to see her brother, smiling, holding an open jar in one hand, and a lid, riddled with holes, in another. She smiled up at him as she transferred the firefly into the jar. “Photuris lucicrescens” She said looking at the little thing crawling in the jar as her big brother put on the lid.

“You can’t go an hour without showing off that brilliant mind of yours, can you?” He asked, putting his arm around her shoulders.

“No.” She admitted, looking up at her brother. Her brown eyes shining.

Simon laughed, before going to put the jar down on the porch and chasing after his little sister.

“Not me.” She said sternly. “Them.” She pointed at the now hundreds of little bugs circling in the now darkened sky.

Simon nodded and chased after one, failing miserably at catching it. River giggled at his feeble attempt and then chased after one herself, catching it almost instantly.

“Caught one.” She gloated as Simon brought over that jar for River to put the little bug in.

They went on like this for hours till the sky had gone from pale purple to a midnight-blue, almost black, and the fireflies finally ceased blinking.

“They’ve gone home.” River frowned, looking around the large yard.

Simon nodded, “And so should we.”

River sighed before following her big brother into the house.

When they walked through the door, into the cold unwelcoming house, River grabbed the jar from her brother’s hand and raced to her room. She gently put the jar down on the side table and changed. Jumping into bed, she wrapped herself in the blankets and stared at the little blinking creatures beside her. “They’re home...”


End file.
